Anyone seen "In Treatment" the HBO series ?

I'm thinking of buying the series, and Ive read reviews on Amazon etc on this, but I was just wondering if any of my fellow patients have seen it, and what your opinions are on it? Did it trigger you in any way? Thanks

Do you watch it, have you seen it? http://www.hbo.com/in-treatment/index.html I would just see some and see how I liked it, if I was triggered, etc.

Yes, I saw the most recent season in its entirety...didn't feel triggered by anything at all. There's an extensive thread in here about it somewhere, if you do a search.

Personally, I think it's interesting and extremely well done, but it's important to keep in mind that it's entertainment. I would think acting out a psychotherapy session would be extremely difficult, but they pulled it off and I feel as if I'm in that room, the conversations, expressions, body language, etc. are very accurate. The one thing I think that is not very realistic is that Paul (the therapist) crosses boundaries a lot. He needs to get his practice out of his house (not that this is necessarily unethical) but it's bad for him, IMO.

I've been meaning to ask my T if she's seen it, but I keep forgetting. I will post back here if I remember to ask her

I started watching it through Netflix but had to stop watching it. I was very triggered by some of the ways the T responded, esp to the client who "falls in love" with him! UGGG!! I could not sit there and watch abuse of power no matter what kind of supervision the guy was getting or anything else along that lines. I think most Ts are not going to do that because it just isn't right. I could not stand watching him interact with other clients knowing that was in his little mind in the background~!
UGGGGG!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Treatment Read that a little (just skim) if you want to do so before spending good money on something you may not be able to watch. Just my opinion.

In the show, the T has a T, and is going through health problems and emotional problems himself. He slips up in his practice. He's human. And it's entertainment, so he may go farther while being really unable than he should.

I like the show. I like Jesse the best. I relate to him most. I find it cathartic to see him acting out against authority, and being angry. I guess I am still a bit adolescent. (a lot)

I say go for it. Or, watch it on netflix. A bunch cheaper, and if it triggers you won't have to be stuck with it. Free trials on netflix, too, so you could watch it free for one month.

I loved it. You just have to keep in mind that it is just a TV show, it is easy to get caught up in the "Omg, I can't believe he just did that". The only problem was that sometimesi I wished my own T acted like him, or said the same things, but he isn't real and my T is. I've only watched the first two seasons, rented them from blockbuster, and I actually just bought the first season cause I liked it so much. I totally recommend it if you can seperate it from your own therapy.

I bought both seasons 1 & 2. Love it. It is a very well done show.

I actually didn't like Jesse at first because of the gross things he would say to Paul....but then I really grew to like him. "Hey I got a letter today.....like in the MAIL." LOL I also like Adele, the "Freudian Ice Queen"

This is what I think I will have a problem with- comparing the fictional relationships with my own relationship with T and wishing my T would do this or that.

I saw seasons 2 and 3, and the first couple of weeks of season 1. I would very much like to see the rest of season 1 as I liked the gymnastics girl. I was kind of triggered by her, but I thought it was good for me--might help me do some of my own processing.

Paul has many boundary crossings, such as having his client eat her breakfast in his kitchen (season 2), going to the hospital with one of his clients so she would get her cancer treatment (season 2), giving a client a hat as a parting gift (season 2), or preparing formal tea service each week for one of his clients (season 3). These situations just seem to arise for him so frequently, that it made me wonder if such things happen to all Ts with regularity. I didn't think he should have let his client into his apartment for breakfast, but I think it is good he went to the hospital and I liked how he used the tea to help his client relax and open up. I think there are probably a lot of therapists who do boundary crossings to facilitate therapy. My T has made me tea before and given me food--no big deal.

I liked Sunil the best in season 3. There seemed to be so much going on in their sessions. Clients sometimes feel betrayed if their T terminates them or for other reasons. So it was a real switch for Paul to feel betrayed by Sunil at the end of their therapy. Very intriguing. It highlights that there is some reciprocity to the relationship.

I watched clips of it on YouTube and I agreed with WePow. I didn't like it. The boundary crossings seemed so extreme that sometimes they made me laugh. Also the clients seem somewhat fake, as TV shows usually do. Even when they don't look perfect, somehow they're still beautiful and their personalities are still pretty put together and coherent, not like real people whose stories aren't so clear. When I was following the stories and not laughing at the exaggerations, they were just depressing to me. The people have endless problems but, at least in the clips, they never experience joy or get to a point of having success with the therapy.

My T is VERY good at not crossing boundaries, she's so good it's scary, LOL! However, she has asked me many times if she could get me something to drink and I always (somewhat ironically) decline because I am seeing her for social phobia and I worry about spilling it when she hands the cup to me, and so on. I say "ironically" because she's the one person who totally understands my problem!

It was intriguing to see Paul get truly pissed off at Sunil at the end..."you ****ing used me!" I do think his offer to see Sunil pro bono was a big boundary violation...the "business" aspect of the relationship is what keeps things in check, IMO. My T has given me discounts before or let me send her the check in later when money happens to be tight that particular week, but that's different.

btw - I don't know how much you saw of season 1, but at one point gymnastics girl came in soaking wet and he gave her some of his daughter's clothes to change into...she explained she couldn't dress herself because of her 2 obvious broken arms. He had his wife help her get into and out of them! I was just thinking..... .....never mind wearing his kid's clothes, but interacting with T's relative, and in that way...not even on my radar!

My T has never given me discounts or let me accummulate a balance or anything like that, so I guess he is pretty firm on that boundary. I'm curious about the pro bono, though. Don't a lot of practitioners in various fields do a certain percent of pro bono work? I know my lawyer does. They can probably write it off come tax time as a charitable contribution. Is it different for a therapist to do pro bono work than for other professionals due to the greater importance of maintaining "the frame"?

No, I didn't get that far with season 1, but it sounds like it is probably good he had his wife help rather than try to dress her himself, as that might make himself vulnerable, i.e. he was doing a good job with "risk management." This is just another example of how Paul somehow found himself in another boundary situation. They just seemed to happen right and left to the guy. If a girl with broken arms comes to your office shivering and soaking wet, what do you do? Maybe having her wrap up in a big blanket without changing her clothes would have been a less extreme reaction?

When my T let me pay a lower fee, I kept asking her "are you really OK with this?" and she said she wouldn't offer if she wasn't. She said she was going to write it off at the end of the year.

I think you put in perfectly. I think there is a greater importance in maintaining "the frame", rather than a lawyer or financial advisor. I think in psychotherapy, paying something is so much better than paying nothing at all. Seeing a T for free makes it seem like too much of a friendship or school/college guidance counselor, IMO. just my $.02

yeah, probably.

hi chronic,

thought these threads might interest you:

http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=162810

http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=162026